The tepuis mountains located in the Canaima National Park are not only
unique to Venezuela, but unique to the world as a whole. They are widely
known for their beauty, remoteness, and popularity with mountain
climbers. They are also home to some of the most unusual and diverse
species of plants and animals in the world.
Located in the south east corner of Venezuela in what is known as the
Guyana highlands on the border with Guyana and Brazil, the tepuis
mountains rise up from the jungle and are characterized by having a flat
table-top appearance. Made primarily of sandstone, they are accented by
dense jungle near their base and on top while the sides are made up of
steep and sometimes impassable rock covered cliffs. Tepuis mountains are
rarely part of a mountain chain, usually appearing as a lone mountain
surrounded by flat jungle land.
The most popular of the tepuis mountains in South America is Mount Roraima which sits right on the border of Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil.
Most of the mountain is within the Venezuela border and rests inside Canaima
National Park. Mount Roraima is hugely popular with mountain
climbers because of the diversity in its slopes, some being easier to
climb and some being more difficult. While it is the highest of all the
tepuis mountains, it is not the largest as that distinction belongs to
Auyantepui.
Auyantepui, the largest of all the tepuis mountains with over 650 square
kilometers of land on its plateau up high, is also home to world famous
Angel Falls. Because of the falls, Auyantepui is the most traveled to of
all the tepuis mountains in the region. Angel Falls is the highest of
all the waterfalls of the world with a height of over 3,200 feet. Angel
Falls was discovered by Jimmie Angel in 1933 and made famous by a failed
attempt to land on the plateau near the top in 1937. There are two main
ways to get to Angel Falls, first by canoe upriver from a nearby village
and second by small airplane in a fly-by visit.
There are few roads in the area of the tepuis mountains, most traveling
is
done by hiking through the jungle on paths, small airplane flights,
and canoe. The remoteness of the area is another thing that makes the tepuis mountains popular with adventure seekers, few people can say they
have visited them because they are not the easiest place to get to. The
reason for the diversity in plant and animal life between the base and
plateaus of the tepuis mountains is the nearly impassable rocky cliffs
that makeup the mountainsides. The rough landscape acts as a border
between two different environments.
The tepuis mountains remain one of the most unusual and beautiful places
to go to in the world. Attractive to many different types of visitors
largely because there is not really any landscape like it anywhere else,
the tepuis mountains continue to draw the attention of travelers every
year. If you’re looking for a vacation destination unlike any other, the
tepuis mountains fit that description exactly.
